CPJ welcomes Supreme Court ruling in the Philippines

September 17, 2009 11:14 AM ET

New York, September 17,
2009—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes a Supreme Court ruling
in the Philippines granting a change of trial venue in the case against two
suspects charged with ordering the March 2005 murder of investigative reporter Marlene Garcia-Esperat.

The Supreme Court handed down the ruling on August 26 and Manila-based
press freedom group Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility received a copy
of the order this week. The change of venue request in the
trial of Osmeña Montañer and Estrella Sabay was filed in February by the
Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists (FFFJ), a coalition of six media groups
and a CPJ partner in the Global
Campaign Against Impunity.

The ruling will shift the trial from Tacurong City Regional
Trial Court to MakatiCity, within the capital of Manila. CPJ research shows that provincial
courts are often prone to political influence in media murder cases that
allegedly involve government officials. Montañer and Sabay are both senior Department
of Agriculture officials who have managed to evade warrants issued for their
arrests in October 2008.

The court denied a motion filed by the two suspects through
their lawyers in Marchto quash the
case on the grounds that the Tacurong court had previously dismissed the
charges without a trial in 2005. Three gunmen were sentenced in 2006 to 30
years in prison each for their role in the crime. Former intelligence agent
Rowie Barua testified during those trials that he had hired the assassins at
the behest of Montañer and Sabay, leading to the new charges filed against them
as the masterminds behind the crime.

“The change of trial venue to a neutral and secure setting
is a significant first step toward achieving full justice in this landmark
case,” said Joel Simon, CPJ’s executive
director. “We commend the Supreme Court’s ruling in this case and urge that the
court make similar rulings in the various other changes of venue petitions in killed
journalist cases still pending. We also call on police to step up efforts to
apprehend Sabay and Montañer.”

In July, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of another change
of venue in the murder trial of radio journalist Dennis
Cuesta, who was murdered in August 2008. The order transferred the case
from GeneralSantosCity, where the shooting occurred on
the southernmost main island of the Philippines,
to the MakatiCity court, considered a more secure
setting for witnesses and prosecutors. A senior police official, Redempto
Acharon, who is related to GeneralSantosCity’s
mayor, is a suspect in the crime. GeneralSantosCity
Police Director Marcelo Pintac told CPJ in July that his officials could not
locate the Acharon to serve a warrant that had been issued for his arrest in
April.

There are a number of similar petitions requesting a change
of trial venues for security reasons in media killings now pending in the
Supreme Court.

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